Scholars have long maintained that each era has a unique spirit, a nature or climate that sets it apart from all other epochs. In German, such a spirit is known as “Zeitgeist,” from the German words “Zeit,” meaning “time,” and “Geist,” meaning “spirit” or “ghost.” Some writers and artists assert that the true zeitgeist of an era cannot be known until it is over, and several have declared that only artists or philosophers can adequately explain it. While we are not setting out to define a Queer Zeitgeist, the exhibition will expose and comment on manifestations of our cultural moment.

We are looking for artistic expressions that reflect or critique the intellectual, ethical and cultural climate of our queer times.

We hope to present trends in queer arts such as: queer craft, traditional as well as experimental works of painting, drawing, and sculpture, work that foregrounds emotional content and/or performance over formal aesthetics, new ways of representing the erotic, the body, gender and identity, reflections on the queer archive, ideas of domesticity, new ways of thinking about public and private space, queer time, remixed and repurposed work including collage and assemblage, eco/environmental work, the return to analog, all things digital, networked art, manifestations of social practice, relational work, collaborative work, activist art, interventions, propaganda, new approaches to film and video, audio art. International artists that offer a global perspective on queer art making are strongly encouraged to apply.

All media and artistic practices will be considered.

Zeitgeist Market

As part of our exhibition we are creating a one-day art market. If you have an idea, product, craft or performative engagement that you’d like to sell/exchange in our market please describe your product and/or exchange system. Please make it clear in your proposal that you want to be in the Zeitgeist Market.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR WorkDEADLINE: January 15, 2013

Please send the following to: Zeitgeist@queerculturalcenter.org

1. Please send visual documentation of previous work or work in progress. You may submit 2 to 5 jpegs, video links to YouTube or Vimeo or web links to images or projects. Please carefully label your images beginning with your last name and image number (example: Lastname_Image1.jpg).

2. Please include a Work Sample list describing each sample. (Title, Date, Medium)

2. If you are submitting a proposal for an installation please submit a detailed description and plan for your project including rough dimensions and any special hardware or rigging requirements.

3. For all other non-traditional media, please submit a proposal no longer that 2 pages with an appropriate work sample that will help the curators understand your idea. Please feel free to contact the exhibition coordinator if you are uncertain about what to submit. Zeitgeist@queerculturalcenter.org

4. A brief resume

5. A brief statement explaining how your work addresses the exhibition’s theme. How does your work reflect or critique the intellectual, ethical and cultural climate of our queer times.

Note: Arrangements and expenses for shipping/delivery/retrieval are the responsibility of the artist. All non-installation must arrive/be delivered “ready to hang.” Artworks are insured by the gallery from the time they enter the gallery until they leave.

Motyl pays homage to, as he is inspired by and deconstructs, the seminal Marcel Duchamp painting, Nude Descending a Staircase #2. Using state-of-the-art video technology, he creates his own Nudes Descending a Staircase #2. This is the first of a series of three Nudes Descending videos/installations.

A Pox on All Gurus! This video of a live Frank Zappa show from Sweden in 1973 is not particularly gay, but resonant in a lot of different ways. This Mother (of Invention) stares down The Mystery Man and tells it like it is. Whether it is snake-oil or salvation, spiritual hucksters are as American as…well, nevermind! “Who you jivin’ with that Cosmik Debris? Look here brother, don’t you waste your time on me!” Take home message: think for your blinking self.

These two are just too cute. Barely more than kids, as soldiers usually are, they are caught in a complicated history, their own personal stories intertwined with that of their country at war. Vets, and children of vets, understand how one can despise war and still honor warriors. Many of us still carry the physical and emotional effects of conflicts long past. “It’s complicated” – as they say on Facebook. War is hell, but it is also boredom. In these media days, that’s easily taken care of with a camera and a YouTube account. The Internet is awash with interesting videos made by soldiers with time on their hands. These two mess around to Soulja Boy’s Donk. For a great Lady Gaga Telephone re-do, click here. For an interesting musical political commentary, based on a lyrical re-working of the Beach Boys’ classic Kokomo, click here.

It is the middle of the SF LGBT Film Festival, high holy days are underway in the City by the Bay, Pride is coming, and outside the festival’s host venues, gay film buffs are rubbing their bleary eyes after marathon sessions in the dark. The cinematic apparatus, not that other dark! There is something for everyone at this annual festival, now in its 35th year. The shorts programs are some of the best, and for those with short attention spans, are just the ticket. One film is not doing it for you? Wait 5 minutes. The next one could be all that.

“All that glitters is indeed gold in this wonderful collection of shorts featuring several gems from our very own Bay Area filmmakers… Take a look at disgusting alien bodies and eavesdrop on the deaf relay system. Follow a camera off a bridge in a memorial for lives lost. A dispute on the high seas can only be settled by a dance off (of course), and we’ll see just how campy an AIDS camp can be. Rounding out the program is a silent comedy set to Tchaikovsky and starring Peggy the Peg-leg Ballerina.” via festival director Jennifer Morris

“Glitter Emergency” shows at the Victoria Theatre, 9:30 pm on Tuesday, June 21st, 2011. The Victoria is located at 2961 16th Street in the Mission district. Built in 1908 as a Vaudeville House, it is the oldest operating theatre in San Francisco.